Good money

Increasing the social and environmental returns from forest investments

How investors think and act profoundly affects the health of the world’s forests: through direct investments in forests, through financial and management targets for forests, and through encouraging people to view environmental and social sustainability of forests as a core objective.

New players such as timber investment management organizations and new mechanisms such as “green bonds” are emerging all of the time.

Certification can be an important tool in increasing the value of forests by assuring investors that their assets are well managed and by providing stable relations with communities and forest workers.

But a single market-oriented mechanism such as certification will bring only limited success when acting alone.

This round table is designed to promote discussion of the capital needs for responsible forest management and how that money can be mobilized, how investing institutions perceive, measure and manage investments in forests, and how forest owners and managers might respond.

We hope to discuss ways to measure long-term success involving sustainable forestry rather than rapid payback, and how it might be possible to encourage investors more sympathetic to society and the environment.